Summer Field Trips

MNPS Field Trip Guidelines

Often led by professional ecologists, botanists, and natural scientists, these fabulous Montana field trips offer enriching and fun opportunities to get out and explore Montana's abundant beauty.

Always call the listed trip leader for the most current information.This information is extracted from our printed guide, prepared in early spring, and may not anticipate the many changes that may occur throughout the summer due to weather, fires, or other unforeseen events.

The trips vary from easy to difficult. Please read each description and contact the trip leader with your questions to insure the trip meets your expectations, physical abilities and circumstances.

Please leave dogs and firearms at home in fairness to other participants and wildlife.

Some field trips have size limits. If the leader requests that you call to reserve a spot, call again if you must cancel.

Some trips are more child-friendly than others.Check with your trip leader.

Be prepared for Montana's instantaneous weather changes.Wear appropriate clothes and shoes. Bring food, water, extra clothes, rain gear, sunscreen, insect repellent, sunglasses, hat, and any other personal gear you might need. Room permitting, bring your favorite field guides and a notebook for recording species you see.

If you have a health condition, including allergies, that could affect you during the field trip, tell the trip leader and carry necessary medications.

Be aware of wildlife you might encounter and know how to behave to avoid conflicts.You may encounter bear, deer, elk, moose, snakes, mountain lions, bees, and other species.

The MNPS assumes no liability for personal injury or loss of property on MNPS-sponsored field trips. Each participant may be required to sign an attendance sheet and liability waiver before starting the field trip.

2011 Field Trips:

May

Sunday, 5/8 —Tip-Toe Through the Trilliums 2:00 p.m. Do you know that Trillium ovatum can live as long as 72 years? Tarn Ream will share her extensive knowledge from a 10-year study of this elegant, early spring beauty. Find out about trillium ’s interesting life-cycle , including plants that reappear after years of dormancy and the potential impact of over-harvesting. After brunch, bring Mom and enjoy this easy, relaxed Mother ’s Day outing. Botanist Peter Stickney co-leads this trip. Meet at the Rattlesnake Trailhead. Info: Kelly at 258-5439.

Tuesday, 5/17 —Dyer ’s Woad Pull I 6:30 p.m. Help control Dyer ’s Woad, a noxious weed in the mustard family, along with helping restore native grasslands during Wildflower Week. Twenty years ago the Dyer ’s Woad infestation on Mt. Sentinel was 7,000 plants; now we rarely find more than 100. Enjoy the beautiful view and grasslands during this two-hour weed pull. Wear sturdy shoes and bring rain gear. Meet at the Mt. Sentinel Trailhead. Info: Marilyn at 544-7189.

Wednesday, 5/18 —Al Raddatz Native Plant Landscaping Tour 6:00 p.m. Join native plant landscape designer Leslie Lowe for a tour of the Al Raddatz property. This was a favorite trip last year so we ’re going back! To carpool, meet at the Ashley Square parking lot by Drivers Services, 1325 Hwy 2, Kalispell. Info: Leslie at 471- 5760, leslie[at]bruceboody.com.

Wednesday, 5/25 —Whitefish Trail Field Trip 6:00 p.m. Hunt for spring wildflowers and explore possibilities for an educational interpretive display. Follow Hwy 93 west of Whitefish; turn right onto Lion Mountain Loop Road and follow it 1.2 miles to the trailhead. Info: Jen at 270-7028, jhintz2004[at] yahoo.com.

Saturday, 5/21 —Montana Native Plant Society Annual Plant Sale 8:30 a.m.-noon. Come to the Missoula Farmer ’s Market on North Higgins in Missoula and support MNPS. More than 70 species of Montana native plants, including our state flower, the bitterroot, will be for sale. Arrive early for the best selection.

Saturday, 5/21 –Thompson River: Spring Ephemerals on the Rocks 10:00 a.m. Join Peter Lesica on this exploration to look for spring wildflowers that like to hide in warm rock crevices. Bring water, lunch, layers for changeable weather and tick repellant! Meet at the junction of Hwy 200 and Thompson River Rd., east of Thompson Falls. Info: Judy at 847-2717, jhutch7494[at]aol.com.

Monday-Friday, 5/23-27 —Celebrating Wildflowers Week! Events take place throughout the week on Mt.Helena in Helena. Monday, 5/23, features an evening hike for volunteers and the public. Tuesday and Wednesday, 5/24 and 5/25, local schools participate in Celebrating Wildflowers Day (volunteers needed). Thursday, 5/26, there is a wildflower presentation at the Lewis &Clark Library at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 5/27,join a morning wildflower walk for Moms, Pops and Tots to close out the festivities. Info: Kathy, katbrim[at]bresnan.net.

Wednesday, 5/25 —Grassland Restoration 6:00 p.m. Kathy Knudsen and Tom Deveny are restoring native vegetation on their property west of Missoula. Revegetation has been one of their main strategies to help these grasslands recover from a century of over-grazing. We will check out revegetation efforts following the 2007 Black Cat fire and look at areas that still have a good remnant native community of forbs and grasses. Kathy and Tom will share the trials and successes of this eight-year endeavor. Meet to carpool at the northwest end of the Providence Center parking lot (east of Orange Street). Info: Kelly at 258-5439.

Saturday, 5/28 —Spring Wildflower Walk to Lewis &Clark Pass 10:00 a.m. Join us for a spring wildflower walk to historic Lewis & Clark Pass east of Lincoln in the Alice Creek Drainage, sponsored by the Montana Discovery Foundation. We will meander up to the pass (approximately 1 ½ miles each way) and enjoy the views and the spring growth. Don ’t be surprised if we find snow! We often see glacier lilies, arnica, forget-me-nots, camas, and shooting stars on this annual trek. This hike is family friendly and anyone can do it. Please call for reservations; groups are limited to 20 people. Meeting at the Alice Creek Trailhead. Info: 495-3718 or 495-3711.

Tuesday, 5/31 —Dyer ’s Woad Pull II 6:30 p.m. Help control Dyer ’s Woad. See May 17 Dyers Woad Pull for details. Meet at the Mt. Sentinel Trailhead. Info: Marilyn at 544-7189.

June

Wednesday, 6/1 —Native Plant Garden Tour 7:00 p.m. Join native plant gardener Bill McClaren for a tour of the Flathead Valley Community College and Central School Museum Native Plant Gardens. Meet at FVCC, behind Blake Hall. If it is raining, meet inside Blake Hall. No RSVP necessary; the tour is wheelchair accessible. Info: Bill at 257-2540,mccl[at]bresnan.net.

Tuesday, 6/7 —Columbia Mountain Field Trip 5:30 p.m. Join Glacier National Park Ecologist Tara Carolin on a two-hour evening walk up Columbia Mountain. Enjoy spring and early summer blooms along the forested trail that also offers lovely rock outcrops in the sunshine. Although the trail can be a little steep in places, the pace will be slow and we will be going only a few miles at most. Meet at the Columbia Mountain parking lot and trailhead. Bring a sack supper if you like. Info: Tara at 755-9412,writetaraywc[at]yahoo.com.

Tuesday, 6/7 —John Toole Park Weed Pull 6:30 p.m. Help John Pierce and other volunteers restore Missoula Valley ’s native grasslands. Bring a friend and a tool for weeding, take a seat and enjoy an evening near the Clark Fork River doing good for the community and the environment. Meet in the grasslands just north of the Waterwise Garden and east of the Missoulian, near the Kim Williams Trail in John Toole Park. Info: John at 542-2640.

Saturday, 6/11 —The Biennial Native Plant Garden Tour and Reception 10:00 a.m-4:30 p.m. Visit some of Missoula ’s finest native plant gardens and meet the gardeners who created them. All gardens are located in the Rattlesnake area. This will be an enjoyable, full-day event, ending with refreshments. Plants and seeds will be available for purchase. Directions for the garden tour will be handed out from 10:00-10:30 a.m. on the south side of the Montana Native Plant Gardens, located on the University of Montana campus west of the University Center near the old Botany Building greenhouse. Bring water, snacks and lunch. Info: Kelly at 258-5439.

Sunday, 6/12 —Field Trip with Paul Sawyer. Join us on a trip to view the native flora of the Rochester Basin. Meet at either the Montana Tech Library parking lot on West Park St. by 8:00 a.m., or at the Melrose exit off I-15 on the east side at 9:00 a.m. We will carpool at both locations. Bring a sack lunch, water and clothes for changeable weather conditions. Info: Paul at 490-2235, ptsawyer[at]in-tch.com.

Tuesday, 6/14 —Dyer ’s Woad Pull III 6:30 p.m. This is the last Dyer ’s Woad Pull of the season. See May 17 Dyers Woad Pull for details. Meet at the Mount Sentinel Trailhead. Info: Marilyn at 544-7189.

Montana Native Plant Society Annual Meeting Friday-Sunday, 6/17-6/19 The Maka Flora Chapter hosts this year ’s MNPS Annual Meeting at Camp Needmore on the Custer National Forest, Ekalaka. The weekend will focus on the diverse prairie and ponderosa pine ecosystems of southeast Montana and will include field trips, a talk by rancher and conservation writer Linda Hasselstrom, opportunities for socializing and a chance to bid on various unique, hand-crafted items at the silent auction. Go to the Annual Meeting page for details and to download a registration form.

Sunday-Tuesday, 6/19-6/21 —Milton Ranch Plant Roundup We are returning from the Annual Meeting to the beautiful Milton Ranch near Roundup, MT to help document the native plants on this well-managed land. This ranch is highly diverse in terms of geology, botany, and bird life. Photographers: bring your photo equipment to help with an image catalog of species that occur on the ranch. Our hosts, Bill and Dana Milton, will accommodate us overnight on their property. Bring camping gear and food for meals. Arrive late Sunday afternoon or by 9:00 a.m. Monday for our botanical excursion. Please RSVP to Bill and Dana prior to the outing at 323-1771. Info: Kelly at 258-5439 or Wayne at 453-0648.

Tuesdays, 6/21-8/23 —Volunteer Opportunity at Glacier National Park Nursery. Help with seeding, transplanting, weeding and cleaning, or work on a particular research or experimental project. Bring a sack lunch, your favorite work gloves and clothes that can tolerate dirt. Drop in and work an hour or stay the entire day. Meet at the Native Plant Nursery, Glacier National Park. Info: Joyce at 888-7817.

Tuesday, 6/21 —Summer Solstice Walk to Fox Creek Meadow 6:00 p.m. Celebrate the longest day of the year with an evening picnic at 8,000 feet, the Fox Creek Meadow high point above Hyalite Canyon. This one-mile walk is one of the Montana Wilderness Association ’s summer series. MNPS member Gretchen Rupp will be on hand to help check out the native flora. Meet at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks office parking lot,1400 S.19th Ave., Bozeman. Pack a supper and bring rain gear just in case. No dogs, please. Info: Joanne at 586-9585 or Anne at 587-7629.

Saturday,6/25 —Attracting Pollinators 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest is establishing a native plant garden at the Birch Creek Outdoor Education Center. Volunteers are needed to help plant. Bring your gardening shoes, warm clothes/rain gear and a lunch and meet at the Birch Creek Center for a fun day of planting. Info: Jessie at 683-3947, jsalix[at]fs.fed.us.

Saturday,6/25 —Hyalite View Wildflower Stroll 9:00 a.m. Natural Resources Conservation Service Biologist Peter Husby will lead this easy morning stroll along the Hyalite View trail in Bozeman. Meet at the trailhead on Kagy Blvd., about ¼ mile east of Highland Blvd.. Bring water and a snack; a wildflower identification book and a hand lens are nice but not necessary. Info: Joanne at 586- 9585 or Anne at 587-7629.

Sunday,6/26 —Women and Girls Summer Wildflower Hike 8:00 a.m. Come learn about wildflowers and wilderness with some wild women! This will be an easy hike at high elevation, following the Continental Divide Trail south from Flesher Pass through forest and meadow habitat. We will walk 3-4 miles round-trip, going at a slow pace to identify as many wildflowers as we can. We ’ll have lunch at a scenic overlook, enjoying the wilderness that makes Montana special. Bring water and a lunch. Meet at the Lundy Center north of Center Stage Video in Helena. Women and girls only; register by Friday, 6/17. Info: Martha at 495-9270, greenevogt[at]imt.net.

July

Saturday, 7/16 —Botany by Canoe. The Calypso Chapter invites all MNPS members for a weekend of botany and canoeing with Thomas J.Elpel, author of Botany in a Day and founder of the Jefferson River Canoe Trail (www.jeffersonriver.org). The organization is a chapter of the Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. JRTC is sponsoring a public canoe float on the Jefferson River on Saturday, 7/16, followed by a potluck and optional overnight camping. Those who are interested can join or continue on downriver with Tom on 7/17 for additional paddling, botanizing and foraging. Bring your own canoe if you can; Tom may have extra canoes to loan out at no charge. Registration required. Info: Tom at thomasjelpel[at]gmail.com.

Thursday, 7/28 —Glacier National Park Weed Blitz 10:00 a.m. Join other citizens in removing invasive plants from priority sites in Glacier National Park. Park biologist, Dawn LaFleur, will train participants on identification and effective hand-pulling techniques for targeted weed species. Meet at the West Glacier Community Building. Space is limited; registration required. If there is sufficient interest, a second date may be set. Info: 888-7986.

Saturday, 7/30 -Destination TBD 9:00 a.m. Depending on what 's blooming where, Matt Lavin, MSU Professor of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology and long-time MNPS member, will lead a local field trip to Triple Tree, Sypes Canyon, Mt.Ellis or a similar location near Bozeman where the flowering is most abundant and diverse. Meet at the Plant Biosciences Building parking lot. Watch your email or the Bozeman Daily Chronicle for more information. Info: Joanne at 586-9585 or Anne at 587-7629.  

August

Saturday, 8/6 —Alpine Ecology Field Trip 9:00 a.m. Join University of Montana/Western Prof. Wendy Ridenour on a hike to the summit of Mt. Baldy. Meet at the Dillon Comfort Inn parking lot, in front of the entrance. Bring a lunch, several layers of clothing and a rain jacket. We will carpool to the trailhead. Info: Wendy at wendy.ridenour[at]gmail.com.

Saturday, 8/20 -Big Sheep Creek Field Trip. Learn your grasses and visit a beautiful area in southwest Montana. This is a long drive but well worth it! Rich Prodgers will lead exploration of the area and help participants learn the major grass species. We’ll also look for the alkali primrose. This will be a full day, so bring a lunch and dress appropriately in layers, including rain gear. Meet to carpool at the Dillon Comfort Inn parking lot, in front of the entrance. You can drive your own car if you wish to stop in Dell for dinner on the return trip. Info: Rich at bighornenv[at]bresnan.net.

Saturday, 8/27 —Gentian Jaunt. Naturalist and botanist Peter Lesica will accompany us on a two-mile, somewhat strenuous trip to Baker, Middle and Gem Lakes, nestled below Trapper Peak in the Bitterroot Mountains, to see the lovely, blue mountain bog gentian (Gentiana calycosa ). We will note trail conditions between the lakes to make recommendations to the USFS on building one official trail to protect habitat. Missoulians meet to carpool at the southwest corner of the old WalMart on Hwy 93 South at 9:30 a.m.; Bitterrooters meet at 10:30 a.m. in Hamilton at Sam ’s Spade (111 South 4th Street,) a wonderful gardening/ birding store. We will all leave from Sam ’s at 10:35 a.m. Parking at the trailhead is limited. Wear sturdy shoes; bring water, lunch and rain gear. Info: Kelly at 258-5439.

Saturday,8/ (date to be determined)—A visit to the MSU Horticulture Farm 9:00 a.m. Meet at the Plant Biosciences Building parking lot to go see the work in progress on natives being grown for seed. Info: Joanne at 586-9585 or Anne at 587-7629.

September

Saturday, 9/17 —Exploring the World Without Chlorophyll: Fall Fungi, Symbiotics and Other Non-Vascular Wonders 9:30 a.m. Pyrola or polypore? Becky Richards will guide us on a mutual self-help trip to identify non-vascular plants in the Seeley-Swan area. Bring your best mushroom and/or Rocky Mountain plant guide book(s),field lens, and some white paper for spore prints. This trip is limited to eight people because we will be scattered in the woods. Bring warm clothing, rain gear, water and a lunch. Registration required; meet to carpool at the Town Pump truck stop in Bonner, south side of the Riverside Grill. Info: Kelly at 258-5439.